Explore the opportunities available only to honors students. Go deep to name the challenges you choose for yourself, and let the SMBHC support you in meeting them.
Community Action Challenge
The challenge to each honors student: become an agent of change in your community. Each semester, make a difference. As agents of change, honors students use the Community Action Challenge to outline the scope of their concerns and dreams, explore what it takes to have a lasting impact, and transform their communities and themselves.
Freshman Ventures
(Due to Covid-19, FV has been suspended until 2022.)
First-year students can compete for Freshman Ventures, a group journey to one of the major cities in the United States, to ask the question of the year. These jaunts nudge our first-year students to wrestle with a tough question posed by our Honors faculty and answered through interviews with a variety of people. This program culminates in a Freshman Ventures Retreat, where all participating students convene with honors staff and faculty to present their findings.
Health Professions
For several years, the SMBHC has worked with students interested in pursuing a health profession.
SMBHC First Generation Student Network
If you identify as a first generation college student (for example – you are the first person in your immediate family to attend University), you are invited to be a part of the SMBHC First Generation Student Network! Throughout the semester, we will host events and share resources catered to the first-gen experience, ranging from events such as getting to know other first-gen students on campus and learning from first-gen alumni to learning how to apply for national scholarships. Event and resource announcements are sent by email, and included in the weekly SMBHC newsletter. To sign up for the email list serve, you can email Senior Barksdale Fellow Ashleen Williams (amwill17@olemiss.edu) or the 2021-2022 First Gen President, Jorge “Andy” Flores, at jaflores@go.olemiss.edu.
The Honors College Minority Engagement Council
The Honors College Minority Engagement Council (HoCoMEC) fosters an environment that promotes interconnectivity, cultivates greatness in academia, and generates a respectful community that opens dialogue for minority students within the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College.
The Honors Senate
Beginning freshman year, honors students may run for a seat in the Honors Senate.
Partnership with UM School of Law
Thanks to a partnership with the UM School of Law, SMBHC juniors and seniors are able to get a taste of law school before they graduate.